Treatment approaches: Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT)

Dialectical behaviour therapy is a skills-building approach developed for people who have difficulty regulating their emotions, and engage in behaviours which disrupt their lives. It is the predominant treatment approach of Bianca Glajz. Contact us to find out about our 8 week Introduction to DBT groups.

It was originally developed to treat Borderline Personality Disorder and complex individuals who have chronic suicidal thinking and engage in high-risk behaviours. However, we now know that DBT is effective for a wide range of psychological difficulties, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, disordered eating, and any issues that involve significant difficulties with emotion regulation.

DBT targets four main skill sets: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Mindfulness skills help people learn how to accept and sit with difficult thoughts and feelings without needing to react or struggle. Mindfulness increases clarity and awareness of ourselves, reduces emotional reactivity, and enriches our day-to-day life experience. Contact us to find out about our meditation courses.

Distress tolerance skills help people learn how to tolerate difficult situations skillfully, get through emotional crises without making things worse, and how to develop more emotional resilience.

Emotion regulation skills help people learn how to manage and change emotions and how to increase their experience of positive emotions.

Interpersonal effectiveness skills help people learn how to increase effectiveness in dealing with other people and relationships, and how to build more self-respect. These skills will improve assertiveness, boundary setting, your ability to express your needs, and help you develop a more positive relationship with yourself.